Hit 'n RunOr Not
by critterlady
Summary: The gang helps a young lady after an accident. Idea based on real incident in my life. Rated "T" just to be safe. I don't own any of the characters but I think of them as "family".


**A/N** The idea for this story came from something that actually happened to me one summer. I had gone out to ride my bike and woke up in a 3' deep ditch over 2 hrs later, ended up crawling home because I was too woozy to even stand. My bike was warped and I had a huge bruise across my leg, along with my concussion. Cops never caught whoever was responsible but recorded it as "probable hit 'n run".

It was a beautiful June Sunday morning as John Gage got ready to leave for work. Deciding not to risk being water-bombed this morning, he had dressed in his uniform at home. Grabbing his duffel, he hurried out to his Rover, he was pleased to see it was only 7:30, he had plenty of time to make it to work before his shift started. John left his house and headed down his drive towards work noticing that for once, he saw no other traffic on his way to work. He had almost reached Machado Lake when he saw something move at the roadside. Not seeing any other traffic, he decided to stop to investigate, knowing that any other traffic would be able to see his Rover easily.

Not knowing what he would find, Johnny grabbed a blanket from the backseat. As he ran across the road, he realized that the road side dropped sharply down to the lake below. Johnny almost stopped when he realized that what he had seen was a hand moving in the grass. Training took over as he approached, hoping the person wasn't too badly injured. Reaching the figure, he found a young woman he estimated to be in her late teens. She had an obvious head injury that was still bleeding and she was moaning slightly. As Johnny reached her, she lapsed into unconsciousness. Her left leg was twisted at the knee and he hoped it wasn't broken. Checking her pulse, he found it was steady but weak. He covered her up and hurried back to his Rover for his first aid kit.

While he was at the Rover, he flipped the channel on his newly installed CB radio over to a channel he knew police monitored. "This is Paramedic John Gage requesting police and a squad to an accident with injuries." He repeated this a couple times and finally got a response. When he heard Vince ask him for a location, he gave him the info and let him know he would be away from his CB with the victim. Vince had police dispatch contact fire dispatch to send out the needed help as he hurried to the scene, hoping John wasn't hurt himself.

Back at Station 51, it was almost time for shift change when the call came in. "Station 51, accident with injuries Pacific Coast Highway westbound, just past Machado Lake, paramedic on scene."

As everyone hurried to the trucks, Roy realized the location was on Johnny's way to work and hoped he wasn't hurt. In the engine, everyone else had also realized that Johnny lived out that way and hadn't made it in to work yet.

Vince finally reached the scene and was glad to see Johnny's Rover sitting with it's flashers turned on. He parked his squad on the opposite lane from Johnny in order to block the highway. Not seeing any other vehicles, he looked around for Johnny, calling his name. He was relieved to get a response from the roadside. Grabbing his HT, he rushed over to Johnny. "LA, what's the ETA on a squad?"

Before anyone could say anything, the sound of 2 blasts from an air horn could be heard over the HT. Johnny looked at Vince and grinned, "2 minutes, that was Mike." Vince asked Johnny if he needed any help right then and when he got a negative, he waited on the road for the squad. Johnny continued to monitor the girl but deep down he was relieved it was 51s coming.

Roy pulled the squad to a stop with Mike right behind him. He knew everyone else was as relieved as him to see Johnny's Rover parked in the road with the flashers turned on. He and Dwyer started grabbing supplies off the squad while he yelled for Johnny. "Johnny, what ya got?"

"Need a collar and a backboard over here, also a leg splint."

Hank hurried over to see what else was needed and confirm for himself that his youngest man was uninjured. "Johnny, everything OK?"

"Yeah Cap, can you check the ETA for the ambulance? I don't know if she was in a vehicle or what, I just caught a glimpse of something moving off the road and when I stopped to check I found her."

Dwyer set up the biophone while Roy began to help Johnny with the girl. She briefly came around but then passed out again. "I found her about 20 minutes ago and that's the third time she's been in and out, no idea how old she is either."

Vince looked at the girl and informed everyone he'd put her in protective custody, just in case she did turn out to be under 18.

As Dwyer relayed the girl's vitals and injuries to Rampart, Roy and Johnny worked to stabilize her and prepare her for transport. Capt Stanley helped them roll her onto a backboard while Vince, Chet and Marco tried to find out how she got to the roadside. As the ambulance pulled up, Chet yelled out "I found a bicycle down here guys, it's bent up bad too."

Vince moved over to check the bike after confirming that Marco found no signs of a car accident either. Looking over the bike, Vince noticed the flaking paint where the frame was damaged. He let Roy and Johnny know it looked like she had been hit while riding the bike. He put the bicycle in his trunk and began to look for more evidence.

As the ambulance arrived, Johnny looked over at Dwyer, "Hey, take my Rover to the station for me? I wanna ride in with her."

Hank gave the usual two taps to let the ambulance know they could leave as Chet and Marco helped Roy repack the squad. Dwyer left in Johnny's Rover to return to the station and head home. Roy left with the squad headed to Rampart while the engine crew returned to the station. Once they arrived at Rampart, the girl was taken into a treatment room and Dr. Brackett began to examine her. Her leg wasn't broken but her knee was badly sprained, she was still unconscious but luckily did not have a skull fracture. She had several cuts that had debris imbedded in them that would be cleaned out before a brace could be applied to her knee. She also had several cracked ribs that had been wrapped along with a broken left radius and ulna that would also need to be be set. So far, the only clue to her identity was a locket with pictures of a couple that Dixie found around her neck while removing her clothes. Vince had already gotten a picture of her and it was being compared to missing persons reports before being broadcast on the TV in an attempt to identify her. Johnny and Roy had returned to quarters with Dixie's promise to keep them posted on her condition.

Late that evening, Roy and Johnny were again at Rampart with a patient, this time from a warehouse fire. While Roy was with the patient, Johnny found out what room the mystery woman was in and left to go check on her. When he got there, she was struggling to regain consciousness so he paged a nurse to her room. Before the nurse arrived, she opened her eyes and stared at him. "Who are you, where am I?"

"My name's Johnny, I'm a paramedic and you're at Rampart. I found you on the road this morning. What's your name?"

The nurse came in the room just in time to hear the woman say in a frightened voice "I don't know."

Johnny looked over at the nurse, "I'll get Dr. Early."

"No, please don't leave me, is my dad with you?"

"No, can you tell me where to find him?"

"I don't know, do I have a skull fracture?"

The nurse glanced at Johnny when the woman asked that question. She was gently feeling the bandage on her temple and then she began to feel her ribs, mumbling to herself and counting. The door opened to reveal Roy and Dr. Early coming to check on his patient.

"Johnny, we got get back to the fire."

"This is my partner Roy, you take it easy and we'll check back on you later."

"Safe shift, thank you for helping me."

As Johnny and Roy left, Dr. Early began to check her over, just slightly concerned with her apparent amnesia.

"So, who is she, did she say?"

"No, she can't remember, but she does seem to have some medical knowledge, maybe she's a nurse or something somewhere."

"Why do you say that?"

"When she found the bandage on her temple, she asked if she had a skull fracture and she was counting her ribs under the bandage. She's got at least a little medical training. When I went in to check on her, she was restless, just trying to come around. She started sniffing the air heavy too before she woke up and she asked me if her dad was with me. I hope she remembers who she is soon, it's awful being alone in the hospital."

"Yeah, well Vince was gonna have her picture put on the news, they'll find her family."

Roy and Johnny left to return to the warehouse fire still raging downtown. As the night wore on, they treated several firefighters for smoke and heat related problems but luckily no one needed a trip to Rampart. So far, three warehouse were burning but the fire department had managed to keep the blaze from spreading beyond them.

Mike noticed a change in the pressure on the line Chet and Marco took in and notified Cap. Stanley, before Hank could send anyone in after them, Marco's voice came over the HT.

"Cap, shut our line down, we're coming out. I need a hand with Chet."

"Mike, give Marco a hand."

Mike shut the lines down and ran over where two figures were stumbling out of the smoke, one supporting the other. Mike reached the two figures and wrapped his arm around the waist of one, helping to support him. As Hank watched, the three men took a few steps before the building behind them suddenly exploded. Debris rained down and the three men were thrown a couple of feet before collapsing on the ground. Roy and Johnny had both looked up at the noise and saw the men go down. They didn't realize who it was until they saw Hank running over and reach for one of the men.

"Mike, come on buddy, can ya hear me?"

Getting a mumbled response, Hank helped him to his feet and over to the triage area while Roy and Johnny grabbed Chet and Marco. Hank grabbed an O² mask and began to give him oxygen while setting up masks for Chet and Marco. Easing Mike's coat off, Hank was relieved to see that Mike was somewhat coherent. He found a small laceration on Mike's forehead and bandaged it while Roy and Johnny got Chet and Marco situated in triage. Grabbing the biophone, he contacted Rampart to provide information on the three Code I's. Chief McConnikee came over to check on the men and frowned when he saw that half Station 51 was being treated by the other half. Looking down at Hank, he told him to take the squad in with his men and that he would call B-shift in early. He knew none of this crew, especially Hank would be able to concentrate with half of them injured. Hank looked up at McConnikee with relief in his eyes and promised to keep the chief informed.

Roy rode in with Chet and Marco while Johnny rode in with Mike and a lineman from 10's with a leg injury, Hank followed in the squad. Once they arrived at Rampart, Hank went with Mike while Roy stayed with Marco and Johnny stayed with Chet. It wasn't long before all three men met in the doctor's lounge where Dixie had sent them while the guys got x-rays. Dr. Brackett finally came to meet them and informed Hank that he was keeping all 3 over night for observation since all three had been thrown hard to the ground by the explosion. Chet had twisted his ankle trying to avoid a collapsing wall inside the building. Mike only needed 3 stitches in the laceration on his forehead while Marco was lucky enough to receive only bruises in the explosion. All three were being moved upstairs for observation.

Hank, Johnny and Roy headed upstairs to check on the men themselves. They reached the second floor and started looking for the rooms where the injured men were resting. Chet would likely miss 2 shifts due to his sprained ankle but Marco should make it back for the next shift. As they moved down the hall towards the room Mike was sharing with the lineman from 10s, they heard the sounds of a struggle coming from a room. Roy went to notify the nurse while Johnny and Hank entered the room. Inside, the mystery woman seemed to be in the grip of a terrible nightmare. Both men walked over towards her and she turned towards them but she clearly wasn't seeing them. Her breathing was ragged and she was sweating heavily, she swung her head towards the window and yelled "Kevin, Momma's in there, y'all gotta get her out."

Johnny reached for her hands to try and calm her while Hank began to talk to her in his best "calm the victim" voice. The door opened quietly behind them just as the woman began to calm down. She was looking at Hank as Dr. Early and Dixie entered the room. As she began to calm some, she still wasn't aware of her surroundings but she looked at Hank again, "Captain, where's my mom? Where's Kevin and Tommy, they didn't get hurt too did they?"

Dr. Early realized she was still in her nightmare and decided to see if they could get some useful information out of it. He motioned Hank to continue to talk to her since she was calming down. "What's your name sweetie?"

"Heather".

"Heather, what's going on? Who's Kevin and Tommy?"

"The fire, Kevin and Tommy work with Daddy and Uncle Mark."

Heather was quiet for a minute and then she began to cry, "No, Kevin you gotta wake her up, Daddy needs Momma. Uncle Mark, why won't Momma wake up? No I don't wait wait in Ruby, I wanna go with Momma. Where's Daddy, Tommy, where'd Daddy go? Can I keep his coat and helmet then, he'll need it next shift."

Heather was quiet then and slowly eased back into sleep. Hank and Johnny eased her back down and Dr. Early came over to wake her up. Dixie began to check her vitals and she began to wake up.

"Hi sweetie, remember me?"

"Yeah, your name's Dixie right? And this is my doctor?" She looked at Johnny standing near the window, "That's Johnny, he came to see me earlier, he said he found me on the road. Where's my dad, didn't anyone call him or Uncle Mark? My head hurts, my leg hurts bad too, what happened to it?"

Dr. Early stepped closer, "What do you last remember?"

"I went to ride my bike, I ride a couple miles every day, keeps me in shape. But I make sure I'm off the road before dark."

"Well, it looks like someone hit you while you were riding, you have a concussion and your leg isn't broken but it is badly bruised and your knee is sprained. You also broke your wrist, looks like you tried to catch yourself as you started to fall."

"I remember feeling pain in my leg and starting to fall. I tried to catch myself like Brian was showing me but I got tangled in my bike, it's different than falling off a horse."

"Do you know how we can reach your parents?"

Heather started crying, "Momma's gone, Daddy and Uncle Mark got a call last night and left before supper. I went riding shortly after they left. Uncle Mark moved in with us when Momma died."

"Is there anyone else we can call? A family friend maybe?"

"I don't know, I can't remember."

Dixie held her as she cried, "Shhh, it's OK, we'll find them. Vince can put your picture on the news so we can find your family."

"Miss McCall, we can check with dispatch and see what companies got calls last night. It sounds like her family might be firefighters. Even without last names, we have several first names and she said they all work together, that might be enough to find them. I'll call dispatch after we see Mike."

"Thanks Hank, she needs family around, let me know if you find out anything."

Hank joined Johnny and Roy in Mike's room where they were updating him on Chet and Marco. Mike was relieved to hear that everyone would most likely be going home the next day. Johnny told Mike what they'd found out about the mystery woman. Mike suggested they contact volunteer stations as well, he knew most of the engineers on their shift and none of the names sounded familiar. Plus, he confided that none of the stations called their engine "Ruby".

Early the next morning, Hank met Johnny at Rampart so they could give the three men a ride home. Hank had contacted headquarters and found out that none of the LA county fire stations had crews matching the names the mystery woman had mentioned. However, when he contacted dispatch, he did find out that two volunteer stations had been paged out on calls the night before the woman was found. He got the contact info for both stations and decided it might be best if someone from Rampart made the calls. When he got to Mike's room, he found Dixie was already there. He gave Dixie the contact info he had received and she left to go try to call the phone numbers from the nurses station.

She returned a few minutes later and asked Hank if she could borrow him for a few minutes.

"Sure Miss McCall, what can I help you with? Chet or Marco giving you trouble?"

"No Hank, they're fine, Johnny's waiting with them. Actually, it's about that girl Johnny found. We may have located her father but there's a problem and I could use some expert help here."

"I'll help any way I can but what can I do to help you."

"Well, at the second number you gave me, I was able to confirm that several men matching the first names are part of the volunteer station. Unfortunately, I was also told that they were here with injured men, they're up in the burn unit. Dr. Brackett gave me the OK to take Heather up there but it might be easier on her if someone at least a little familiar was there. Since she seemed to respond to you and Johnny yesterday, I was hoping you both might go with us. It'll be about 30 minutes before your guys are ready to go anyways."

"No problem, Miss McCall, let me tell Mike where I'll be and I'll get Johnny. You go ahead and get Heather and we'll meet at the elevator in a few minutes."

"Thanks Hank, I knew I could count on you and Johnny."

Dixie left to get Heather while Hank went to Chet and Marco's room. "John, Miss McCall needs some help for a few minutes. Guys, we'll be back before you're ready to leave. Just gonna escort John's mystery woman upstairs, they may have found someone who knows her, unfortunately, they're here at Rampart."

"Sure Cap, be back in a few guys."

Hank and Johnny joined Dixie at the elevator. Johnny noticed that Heather was nervous as they rode up the elevator to the burn ward.

"What if it's not someone who knows me? What if we never find my family?"

Johnny tried to soothe the frightened girl, "Hey, relax. Even if no one up there knows you, Dixie will find your family. Trust me, she won't give up until she finds someone who knows you. Plus, Vince got your information out to all the area cops in case a missing person report comes in. And we'll all help you too, you got lots of people to help you."

Finally the elevator stopped and they entered the burn ward waiting area. Dixie went to the desk to find out who was there with the injured volunteer firefighter. She was directed to an older man sleeping in a corner chair. She rejoined Hank and Johnny and knelt down in front of Heather. "Does he look familiar to you? He's here with an injured volunteer firefighter."

"A little, but I'm not sure."

Dixie pushed Heather closer then went to wake the man up. "Sir, are you here with the injured firefighter?"

"Yeah, why, something wrong?"

"No, he's fine, I just need to ask you something. Do you know this girl?"

"No, I'd say ask Kevin 'cept he's finally sleeping, he's my neighbor."

Dixie looked at Heather who had tears in her eyes. "Shhh, it'll be OK, I promise we'll find them."

"Look Miss, I don't really know all Kevin's friends but his buddies will be back in a few minutes. They been here a couple days now and I made them go get something to eat. I remember what it was like when my Susie got sick, don't do nobody any good if you let yourself get worn down with worryin'."

The elevator opened and a weary group of men stepped off. They stopped when they saw Dixie standing there in the corner. Heather wasn't facing towards them so they had no idea who was seated in the wheelchair. An older man with dark brown hair stepped forward, "Nurse, is something wrong with Kevin?"

"No gentlemen, I'm actually here about another patient here. Do any of you know a girl named Heather, we don't know her last name."

"I'm Andy, one my guys has a daughter named Heather. He's not here right now but his brother is sittin' with Kevin. Not gonna leave one my guys alone a minute. Why, what happened?"

"This is John Gage, yesterday morning he found a girl by the roadside, she has amnesia and can't remember much beyond a few names. Also, from what she was able to tell us, it sounds like she knows several firefighters."

"Where is she, is she OK?"

"Hank, why don't you bring her over."

Hank pushed a very nervous Heather towards the men, however, before he reached them one reached out carefully towards the injured girl. "Heather sweetie, do you know who I am?"

Heather looked up at the man and started crying, "You look familiar but I'm not sure. I can't remember much of anything, just a few names and a big fire. Why can't I remember?"

"It's OK sweetie, I'm Tommy, me and Kevin grew up with your dad and Mark." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wallet, "Look here's all of us out at the lake fishing last summer. Here's one of you and Brian, man that nephew of mine better treat you right. She gonna be OK ain't she?"

"Can you reach her dad? The doctor will want to talk to him."

"Well he's gone out of town, he left out two days ago, before the fire where Kevin got hurt. Heather was supposed to have left that evening to spend a couple weeks at a ranch. It was a surprise gift to her at her birthday this year. Her uncle is in there with Kevin, let me send someone to stay with Kev and we'll go see her doctor."

Dixie looked at Heather and could tell she had relaxed, even if she didn't remember these men clearly, she recognized them and felt safe with them. "Tell ya what fellas, I'll get Dr. Brackett to come up here. He'll need to pull her chart so it can be updated." Dixie left the group and had Dr. Brackett paged to join them while another man came out of a room and wrapped his arms around Heather.

"Heather, you're gonna be fine. We'll call your Dad after I get you home, no need for him to cut his trip short though, I reckon Tommy'll come over and help me keep an eye on you."

"I just want to go home, is Kevin hurt bad?"

"Kevin ain't so bad off, just he got some burns that last fire and unfortunately he got the same leg broke so they keeping him up here till the burns heal up enough to put a cast on his leg. He's been drivin' the nurses crazy wantin' company so we got the OK for one of us to stay with him all the time."

Dr. Brackett joined the group and Mark introduced himself. Dr. Brackett gave him a full report on Heather's injuries and explained that she had been placed into protective custody by Vince so she could be treated. Mark laughed and informed them that Heather was 19 but he and her father appreciated the idea. Hank and Johnny had already left to take the crew home so Mark decided that in a few days, they'd visit the station with proper thanks for helping Heather.

Mark took Heather home where Tommy helped him watch over her until her dad returned from his trip. The small group picked Kevin up from the hospital and stopped by the station on the way home. Heather chatted with the guys but never could remember exactly how she ended up unconscious on the side of the road. She told them the report was officially being logged as a "suspected" hit and run based on her injuries and the damage to her bicycle. She also confided that her injury ended up being a good thing, in it's own way. Since she refused to give up her bike rides, she was now guaranteed at least one person for company every time. She told them between her dad and uncles, her fiancee didn't have to worry if he wasn't able to meet her for riding. She thanked them all again for helping her and especially Johnny, since he was the one who found her. The guys from station 51 watched smiling as Heather was escorted away by the small group of men.


End file.
